An organic EL panel having a gel encapsulation structure has been conventionally publicly known in which an encapsulation layer is provided, without a gap, between a flat encapsulation substrate and an element formation substrate on which an organic EL element is formed, the encapsulation layer including a filler provided in a portion opposed to the organic EL element, a hygroscopic agent provided along an outer peripheral edge of the filler, and a sealing agent provided along an outer peripheral edge of the hygroscopic agent (see, for example, Patent Document 1 listed below).
Moreover, Patent Document 1 describes using a hygroscopic agent as a filler.